Reversible rotary motor



Oct. 25 1927.

L. B. HUBBARD REVERSIBLE ROTARY MOTOR (GAS) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 16, 1925 d my oct. 25, 1927. 1,646,695

B.A HUBBARD l REVERSIBLE v'ROTARY MOTOR (GAS) -Filed July 16, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 *..u y mi Z6 5.9

Oct. 25 1927.

L. B. HUBBARD REVERSIBLE ROTARY M-OTOR (GAS) Filed July 16, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 R Qu. iT m N Mv W m M y Z o 2 1 l oct 5 927 L; B. HUBBARD REVERSIBLE ROT/my MOTOR (GAS) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Oet. 25, 1927.v

UNiTEDs-TATES l 1,646,665 PATENT OFFICE.

' LLOYD n.nU'BBAnD, or wIcnITa FALLS, TEXAS,

ONEAL, cOMPOsING THE FIRM or MAnTm a ONEAL,

NABD MARTIN AND BEN G. 0F WICHIEA FALLS, TEXAS.

AssIGNoB. or' ONE-FOURTH To BER,-

Bnvnnsmnn no'raianz MOTOR (Gas).

, appiieatien'alei July I6, 192s. semi ne. 651,756.

This invention relates to internal combus- -'tion engines particularly of the type..pro

videdwith a rotor having a plurality of radially disposed cylinders 'in"which 'there' are reciprocating pistons carrying rollers which react on an oval track or vanjeccentri-- cally disposed track to rotate tbef'rotor.

It is an object of the inventiontoprovide an ,finternal combustionengine which will be extremely' simple in construction, with .a minimum number of parts,willbe reliable in operation and not easily owei` developed.

Aparisoii with the It is4 also Van o )ect Aprovide an engine of this; type with proved valve control and agnition mechanism in which the usual cranks, gears, cams and connecting parts' are eliminated, urther simpli ing the construction of -the en gine and re ucing the number of parts required. l vIt is a further object of theV invention to provide an improved means Afor maintaining the control valve tight-so as toprevent leakage, but which will yield to` allow forexpansion andI contraction under changes in -temerature incident'to operation. A1t 'is a further Object of the, invention to provide an internal combustion en gine 'of the four cycle type in which there will be an explosion in each cylinder during each revo- Vlution of the rotor..

lt is another object O. the -inventionto provide aconstruction in which a more eicient lubrication may be secured with the use ofless oil. Y L, l V

It is a still 'fuitlierobiectvof the invent-ion to vprovide an internal which may be easily reversed without the use of gears and the like, and'by-tlie shifting of a single'element.

lt is also an object of the invention to provide a vconstruction in .which a single spark plug may be used for all the cylinders, and this plug will be located in the most eiiicient locationfor properfignition. Y y

With the'. foregoing and other .objects in view I have devised the constructionfillustrated in the accompany-ing drawing in which l Fig.'1 is a vertical central section through Figa gotten'jout o order, and Awill also be light in weight in com- O` the 'invention' to elements 15 are similar,

combustion engine Fig..2 is a transverse section substa ltially on 'line 2--2 .of Fig. 1.

Fig.'f3 is a top plan view of the valve.

Fig; 4 is a central longitudinal section thereof substantially on line 4-4 of Acontrol on line 5-5 of Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section substantially on line 6-6 of Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section substantially on line 7-7,o'f Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 8 is -a transverse section substantially on line 8-8 offFigs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 9 isa transverse section Online 9-e9offFigs. 3 and 4. l

Fig. 10 isa longitudinal section through 7* the outer endof a cylinder and a ortion of the casing, showing a slightly di erent construction-' lFig. 11.is a longitudinal section substantially on line 11.-'-11 of Fig. 10, and

Fig. 12 is a longitudinal section through a different form of cooling means.

"Referring to the drawings in hichsimivlar reference characters are used throughout the various figures ments,

to indicate. the same elek the motor includes a stator comprising a casing preferably made of four differ ent` elements, two central elements 15' and two sideY plates 16 and 17. The'two central the upper one being inverted and placed on the lower as shown in Fig. 1,l and these sections areprovided with a central track 18 which isl made continuous after. the two-'sections are superimposed-, as shown in Fig. 1,- upon the surface 19 which vthe rollers 20 carried b the reciprocating pistons 21 -are The vpistons are mounted to reciprocate iii' a plurality of cylinders 22 comprising the rotor.- These cylinders as shown in spaced about the axis of rotation and extend radially from this axis.- Any desired number of i platesll and 17 are securedto the opposite sides4 of the-central elements 15 byany suitable means, such as screw` bolts 23,l andv elements 15 16 and 1 7 providing a closed casing about thisA rotor. f ,1

The sha e of the `track 18fmay vary -some'.

what, but prefer to make it substantial, as

y Fig. 3. Fig. 5 1s a transverse section substantially 60 substantially l Fig. v1 are equally 95 v istons may be employed but Ordi- {nai-ily prefer six. The

enclose the rotor., as

shown in Fig.,1, in which the curve froma' pointv A to a point B gradually decreases in radius forming a transition curve. 'The .curve is what I call a two to one curve, that is, lthe gear feeding the tool for. cutting the surface' of the track revolves twice to one revolution of the chuck carrying the track. In other words the tool movesA inv and out twice to one revolution of the track. The elements 15 are provided with any suitable support such as lugs 24 whereby the engine may be mounted on a vsuitable supporting means 35, and secured thereto by any suitable means such as bolts 26.

The plates 16 and 17 are provided with central bearings, these bearings preferably ends the pistons reach having suitable bushings 27 and 28 respectively in which bearings29 and 30 of 'the rotor are mounted to rotate. Extending transversely through the center of the rotor is a tapered bearing opening 31 in which is Seated a stationary similarly tapered valve member 32 which controls the flow of combustible gases to and exhaust 'gases from the cylinders, and the rotor is provided with passages 33 leading from the bearing opening 31 to the inner end'of each cylinder. The inner end of each cylinder is preferably concaveas shown at 34, as 1s also the end 35 of the pistons 21 to provide suflicient clearance space to control thev amount of compression. The pistons are preferably hollow with circumferential grooves adjacent their ends to receive suitable packing rings 36 to prevent leakage of gases'past the pistons in the usual manner. At their outer carry a transverse sleeve 37 on which are mounted the ball Abearings 38 for the rollers 20. Extending through the sleeve 37 is a bolt 39`headed at one end 40 and the other end provided with a nut or washer 41 which is secured to the bolt. The cylinders 22 are provided Aadjacent their outer .ends with slots 42 through which the bolt 39 extends, and mounted on this bolt.- within the slot are suitable rollers 43. The cylindersI are also. provided with slots 44 through which the track 18 extends so that during certain portions of the revolution of a cylinder it will straddle this track and help to maintain the stator and the rotor in proper alignment. When the engine is running centrifugal action will ordinarily tend to force the pistons outwardly and retain the rollers 20 .in contact with .the

surface of the track, but unless some other' means is provided to prevent it, the upper pistons will drop inwardly towardv the center when'the engine is stopped. This action may be prevented in various ways one of. which is to 'provide a coiled spring 45 about the c linder resting atits opposite ends in cupaped rings 46, the inner one of whichv bears against a shoulder at the inner end of thel cylinder and the outerone bears against ,slots 66 in the through suitable the projecting ends of the bolt 39 and thus tends to force the piston outwardly'. To eliminate these moving springs, however, I may extend the pistons beyond the track as shown at 47 in Figs. 10 and 11' and mount small rollers 48 in these projections to engage shoulders 49 on the opposite sides of the track. By this construction, during ordinary running the rollers 48 have no function but come into play merely when the engine is stopped to prevent the upper pistons dropping inwardly toward the center of the rotor. In this construction, however, the holt 50 corresponding to the bolt 39 is preferably not extended through the sides ofthe cylinders although it may be so extended if desired to prevent the piston turning in the cylinder. 'The long bolt is not necessary, however, as the projections 47 on opposite sides of the track prevent the piston turning. The specific construction of the control valve is clearly disclosed in Figs. 2 to 9. As stated above its outer surface 51 is tapered to correspond with the tapered bearing opening 31 in the rotor and it forms a close bearing fit therewith. As will be apparent from -thes'e -igures this member is provided in its outer wall with two recesses 52 and 53 on opposite sides of a separating `wall 5,4, and there are two longitudinally' extending passages 55 and 56 leading to these recesses respectively. Thee'passages lead at their outer ends to lateral openings 57 and 58 respectively in an oppositely tapered portion 59 of the valve member, which openings may communicate with gas inlet and exhaust passages 60 and 6l respectively. The recesses 52 and 53 are so located on the valve'member as to come successively in alignment with the passages 33 leading to the inner ends ot the cylinders as the cylinders rotate about Lthe valve member. For the purposes of this description I will call 60 the inlet passage and `61 the exhaust passage, but they may obviously bevreversed if desired. Between the two tapered portions 51 and 59 is a flange 62 provided with one or more openings 63 tl1rough,Wliieh extend bolts or studs 64 carried by the plate 16, and carried` by this flange` are one or more .studs 65 extending through curved lange 67 ,of a valve sleeve 68. This sleeve is internally tapered to it the taper of the portion 59, and externally tapered to t a corresponding taper in a fitting 69 having the inlet and exhaust passages 60 and 61, a suitable inlet pipe not shown being connected to the inlet 60 to lead a combusti le mixture to the fitting from a suitable carburetor, and a suitable conducting. pipe being lead from the exhaust 61 to any suitable point of discharge, as inte a, mu'ller. The studs 65 also extend lugs 60 on the tting 69 and these studs are threaded at their outer IIL') lli) qflange 67 thereof may passage 74 are twopassages ends to receive suitable nuts 71,. They are also of such a length that springs 72 may be inserted on these studs between the nuts and the lugs 70. The sleeve 68 is provided with two diametrically disposed openings 60 and 61 which are adapted to register with the openings 57 and 58 for the purpose of controlling the direction of rotationvof the rotor in the manner presently to be described. To facilitate shifting of the valve sleeve 68 the be provided with a suitable handle 73. l. 1

On the opposite side of the valve member from the separatingwall 54 and the recesses 52 and 53 is a pasage 74 leading through the side wall of the Vvalve member, and it is also so located as to communicate with the passages 33 successively as the rotor rotates about the valve member, but it is out of coinmunication with the passages 55 and 56. At its inner end this passage leads to a threaded boss 75 adapted to receive a spark plug shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the sparking points of this plug being in the'pas age 74, and the body of the plug lying in the passage 77 leading to the outside o1 the valve member. The lead wire for the spark plug is lead thereto through the inlet opening of this passage', if the plug is notjof sufiicient length to extend to the outer side of the flange 62.

Leading longitudinally into the valve member 32 from its smaller end is an oil passage way 78, and on opposite sides of the 79 leading to a circumferential groove 80 in the outer wall of the opening 31.

The rotor 1s provided with circulating passages 81 leading from this groove to the opposite side of the rotor where they discharge into thecasing outside of the cylinders as shown at 82 in the groove 8() ma. be formed in the valve member instead o the rotor, as will be obvious.

At the inner or smaller end of the tapered valve member'32 the rotor is provided with a cylinder 83 in which a piston 84 may reciprocate, this piston bein secured tothe valve member by any suitab e means such as screw threads,' and the piston has in its periphery one or more grooves to receive suitable packing 85 to make a tight fit with the walls of the cylinder. Secured to the rotor beyond this piston and covering the end of the cylinder is a shaft 86 which has a flange 87 secured to the rotor b v any suitable means such as bolts 88. This shaft leads to any suitable power trantmitting means, such as a pulley' or gear,v to transmit power from the rotor to a place of use. The bolts 88 and the end of the shaft are enclosed by cap 89 leaving a space 90, and the flange of the shaft is provided with passages 91 leading to the cylinder 83. The

Fig. 2. If preferred` cap 89 closely embraces the shaft 86 and is provided with a groove to receive suitable packing 92 to prevent leakage of oil about the shaft. Leading from the outer portion of the casing, as shown in Fig. 2, to the space is one or more conducting pipes 93 to conduct the cooling fluid from the casing back to this space, as will presently be' described. If desired these pipes may be'provided with a series of heat r`a. diating fins 94, or if preferred, as shown in Fig. 12, they may be enclosed in a jacket 95 through which a. cooling fluid such as water may be circulated. The inlet and outlet passages to this jacket are shown at 96 and 97 respectively. -For the purpose of lubricating the outer, Walls of the tapered portion 51 and the beary ing opening 31 a series of'openings 98 are provided in the separating wall 54 communicating with the passage faces.

For the'purpose of lubricating the bear-l ings 29 and 30 of the rotor, and the bush- 78 to conduct oil to these suran oil passage 99, leading from ings 27 and 28, oil passages 100 lead from the casing to oil grooves 101 in these bushings.

The operation is as follows: With the elements in position as shown in the drawings with 60 used as the inlet for combustible gases (the valvel Figs. 8 and 9- from the position shown in Figs. 1,2, 3.and 4) the rotor will rotate counter clock-wise as shown in Fig. 1, or in the direction of the arrow. The cylinder C is shown on the inlet stroke, the cylinder D atl the beginning of the compression stroke, the cylinder E approaching the end' of the compression stroke and the pointl of ignition, the cylinder Fon the explosion or working stroke, the cylinder G. of the explosion `stroke and about the beginning of the exhaust stroke, and the cylinder H -inthe exhaust stroke and approaching the end thereof. With the valve in position,

` as shown in Fig. 1, the position of the spark and the igniplug is shown i'n dotted lines, tion'passage 74 cornes into communication with the passage 33 of a cylinder just before the cylinder passes through the vertical contral line A-A. The spark may be controlled by the conventional timing mechanism having the usual means for advancing and retarding the spark, or if preferred the be made continuous as the passage 74 is in communication with the cylinders only at the end of the compression stroke and the beginning of the explosion stroke.

If it is desired to reverse the engine all that is necessary is to shift the valve sleeve 68 to shift the openings 60 and 61 therein from the positions shown in Fig. 9 where they are in communication with the paselement 4being inverted in' at the end A shifting the sages 5K6 and 55 respectively to lthe left or'4 communication with the passages 55 and 56.

Thus the passage 55 will then be in .communication with the inlet 60 for the combustible gases and the passage 56 w1l1 be 1n communication with the outlet 61 for the exhaust gases. It will be apparent that by valve member32 about its axis the point of ignition may be varied as desired, and thus by shifting the valve mem,- ber the spark may be advanced or retarded without the use of a timing mechanism. 15v

The path of circulation of the cooling medium will nowV be described. This medium -is preferably oil and the space in the casingsurrounding the cylinders is filled with this oil. It will be apparent that as the rotor rotates centrifugal action will tend to throw this oil toward the outer edge of 'the casing, and the pressure will thus be greater against the outer edge of the casing.V

This pressure will force the oil into the conducting pipes 93 by which it, will be conducted to the space 90. It will ilow from this space tothe passages 91 to the cylinder 8 3, then to the passage 78 in the valve member from which it will pass through the passages 79 to the groove 80 and from thisA groove through the circulating passages-81 back tothe casing. The path of circulation -is shown bv the arrows in, Fig. 2. This cooling .me ium willl cool the cylinders and the valve element and will itself be cooled in -the pipes 93. It will at the same time lubricate all the moving elements andY there l will be a forced feed of oil through the openin'gs98 to the bearing surface between Athe valve member `and the rotor. The number of oil cooling and conducting pipes 93 may be made as found desirable and as required for proper cooling of the 011.

' The piston 84 connected to the valve member 32 will tend to move this member longitudinally fof its axis and to the left as viewed in Fig. 2, to hold the valve in close contact with theI bearing opening in the rotor. This is'because the bearing between this piston and the passages 33 may Vbe suiiiciently loose to allow leakage of gases under pressure from these passes to the right handV side of the piston as viewed in'Fig. 2. Thus the pressure between the valve member 32 and the rotor would be maintained suiiiciently .tight -by the valve member are wholly in the rotor so that there is no side thrust on the rotor and no thrust bearing is required. By this v1s always automatically lautomatically shift to accommodate expanlthere is nothing tending to bind the valve in lution so. Athat with a six the action of the` gases toprevent leakage. If referred one or more I cylinder` capacity. gas passages 84 may provided leading to v means of retaining the valve tight the pressure between the valve member and the rotor controlled according to runnlng conditions and the valve will sionand contraction due to changes in tem- '70 perature incident to running conditions. It will also automatically adjust itself to compensate for wear. If the engine is stopped its bearing so that when the engine is again started there will be no trouble'of this valve sticking. l y

It will also be apparent that the engine is extremely simple in construction requiring gg a minimum number of parts, that the lubrication .is practically a'I forced lubrication pump', yand that the usual cranks, gears,- cams, camshafts and so forth of the ordinary internal combustion engines are eliminated. The reversing mechanism is ex-4 tremely simple, and the cooling system has a positive circulation. lIt will also be apparent that'a single spark plug maybe used for firing all the cylinders in succession, and that itlmay be located in the most eiicient position. As the sparkplug is in communication with a cylinder only for a short time a separate timing mechanism is not necesu sary and a continuous spark may be employed. It is also to be noted that there is an explosion in each cylinder in every revocylinder engine there `will b e six explosions during each wo revolution of the rotor. Because the piston makes two reciprocations in one revolution of the rotor it will be apparent that its speed for a given rate of rotation ofthe' rotor is twice that of the istons of the ordim5 nary four cycle engine or the same speed. This tends to greater eliciency as it gives a greater piston speed for a given speedV of the engine. Another important feature of this engine is that the isfed to the cylinders at their inner ends, and therefore, the centrifugal action on these gases will assist the suction 'of the pistion2 in drawing the combustible mixture into the cylinder. In other words, in this H6 type of engine, for a given capacity of cylinder there willzbe a larger amount of combustible gases drawn into the cylinder than will be the case in the corresponding size of cylinder of the' ordinary four cycle en'- |20 gine. This/gives greater power for a given Having thus set forth the-nature of my invention what I claim is:

1. In an internal combustion engine, a 125 closed casing, a rotor in said casing having a plurality of radially disposed cylinders, reclprocating pistons in said cylinders, means 1n the casing coacting Ywith said pistons to rotatethe rotor, 'saiol rotor being ,139

combustible mixture H0 ,ducting means to with a central transverse bearing opening and fluid passages leading from said opening to said cylinders, a valve member in said opening provided with inlet and exhaustpassages adapted to communicate with said fluid passages as the rotor rotates, an ignition device carried by the valve member and adaptedv for communication with the cylinders, means for conducting explosive'gases to the valve member, means for conducting exhaust gases from the valve member, and manually controlled means for at will connecting the explosive gas conthe inlet passage in the valve member and connecting the exhaust gas conducting means to the exhaust passage in the valve member, and also to reverse these connections.

2. In an internal combustion engine2 `a closed casing,

provided a rotor 1n said casing having a plurality of radially disposed cylinders,`

reciprocating pistons in said cylinders, means in the casing coacting with said pistons to rotate the rotor, said rotor being provided with a central transverse tapered bearing opening and fluid passages leading from said opening to said cylinders a valve member provided with a tapered portion seated in said opening and provided With l'nlet and exhaust passages adapted to communicate with said fluid passages as the rotor rotates, said valve member being provided with a second tapered portion outside the rotor provided with lateral openings communicating with the inlet and exhaust passages, a tapered sleeve on-said latter tapered portion having openings adapted for communication with those in the tapered portion, a fitting embracing said sleeve and`having a supply passage for combustible gases and a passage for exhaust gases, a ilange between the tapered portions of the valve member, springs carried by the flange tending to hold the fitting, sleeve and valve member in engagement, and means for shifting the sleeve about the valve member.

In testimony whereof ture.

I aix myisigna- LLOYD B. HUBBARD, 

